Hobbit star urges backing for film studio in Scotland

BILLY Boyd, the Lord of the Rings actor, has called on the Scottish Executive to support the establishment of a film studio in Scotland.

The Scots star spoke out yesterday at the unveiling of nominations for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Scotland awards in Glasgow.

He said: "It would be lovely to see a studio up here at some point. That would be a great step forward.

"There are so many films that want to use Scotland, want to use our scenery and technicians and art. So whatever we can do to push that forward would be a good thing.

"I’d like to see [the Executive] do more. Film is so much of our generation it feels like there’s a rebirth in Scotland at the moment, so let’s try and make film part of that and do whatever is possible to raise its profile."

He also stressed the importance of Scotland asserting its own identity in Bafta.

"It’s quite important for Scotland to have its own identity in Bafta as well, because there’s a lot of talent here," he said.

"We have great writers and great film-makers living and working in Scotland. We have to applaud that."

The awards ceremony, hosted by the GMTV presenter Lorraine Kelly, takes place in Glasgow on 14 November.